Size of Posters

It takes a live advertiser to swim up stream; any dead one can float down.

Posters are measured by sheets, the standard size of a sheet being 28 × 42 inches, which includes the white margin.

The following diagrams will show the sizes of posters of most common usage:

1-Sheet28 × 422-Sheet56 × 424-Sheet8 ft. 10 in. × 3 ft. 6 in.8-Sheet8 ft. 10 in. × 6 ft. 9 in.12-Sheet8 ft. 10 in. × 10 ft.16-Sheet8 ft. 10 in. × 13 ft. 3 in.24-Sheet8 ft. 10 in. × 20 ft.32-Sheet8 ft. 10 in. × 26 ft. 3 in.

The writer several years ago discovered that there was no standard size among lithographers for posters; that is, while they were made on the 28 by 42 basis per sheet, posters are pasted up in such a varied combination of sections that the lapping precludes the possibility of having a standard size. This is largely accounted for by the tendency of lithographers to save on printing. For instance, a certain sheet in an 8-sheet poster may carry four colors; another sheet may carry but two, and they will so arrange their posters as to make the printing of the largest number of colors come on as few sheets as possible. I recently took thirty 8-sheet posters, which had been used by national advertisers and measured them. Hardly any two of them were the same size; they ran from the largest—114 inches in length by 76 inches in width—to the smallest—109 inches in length by 75 inches in width. The average length of the thirty posters was 111.3 inches, and the average width 75.7 inches, while the largest one contained 8,664 square inches and the smallest 8,175 inches. This brings up a question which has apparently heretofore been overlooked by advertisers; that is, the actual amount of space to which an advertiser is entitled on the bill-boards. The space allotted by the bill-poster for an 8-sheet poster is 112 inches high by 84 inches, and the advertiser who is only getting 109 or 110 inches in length by 75 or 76 inches in width is apparently not getting the best run for his money. It would, therefore, seem that all posters should be made so that they will occupy the full quota of the allotted space when pasted up. This may add slightly to the cost of paper but it will mean an added prominence for your posters.

The following will show just the amount of space an advertiser is entitled to on the boards:

The most popular poster in vogue is the 8-sheet; the next popular sizes are the 16-sheet and the 24-sheet. These larger stands are always four sheets high, the only difference being in the width. While most campaigns are made up on the 8-sheet basis, large advertisers who believe in securing extra prominence run almost exclusively to the 16, 24 and even 32-sheet sizes. The only objection to these larger posters is thatoutside of the largest cities there are very few boards which will accommodate them, and the better plan to pursue is to use a combination of an 8-sheet poster and a larger size, say a 24-sheet, using the 8-sheets exclusively in the small towns, a combination of the 8’s and 24’s in the medium size towns, and an exclusive showing of the 24-sheets in the larger cities; although some advertisers even prefer to sprinkle in a number of 8-sheets with their 24’s in the largest cities, in order to secure a greater number of individual locations at a lower cost.

Smaller posters, such as half-sheets, one-sheets and two-sheets are printed all in one piece, and are used largely for indoor store display, sniping (that is, on ash-barrels, fences, barns and non-listed locations), although in many cases whole stands are made up by a repetition of one- and two-sheets. Usually, however, this is not advisable as the sheets are too small for the reading matter to carry for any great distance.

The hare could run rings around the tortoise, but the tortoise beat him out because he kept pegging along without a halt. Be persistent!

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